Irrig Sci (2000) 19: 73±79 Ó Springer-Verlag 2000

O R I GI N A L P A P E R

E. A. Holzapfel á R. Merino á M. A. MarinÄo á R. Matta

Water production functions in kiwi

Received: 18 September 1998

Abstract The response of kiwi plants (Actinidia deli-

ciosa) to di€erent levels of water application under drip
Background
and microjet irrigation methods was studied over a pe-
Optimum water application levels in orchards allow
riod of 3 years, to determine water-production rela-
normal transpiration and photosynthetic activity to take
tionships. Fruit production increases as larger volumes
place (Hsiao 1990). In the right conditions, kiwis produce
of water are applied up to a level equivalent to 100% of
a large amount of carbohydrates, allowing tree develop-
pan evaporation. In addition, water management has an
ment (root and canopy), substantial production of high
important e€ect on kiwi fruit production. Evapotran-
quality fruit, and storage of photosynthates (Sale 1985).
spiration in kiwi orchards increases with increasing levels
The latter is essential for the orchard, because it increases
of water applied. The evapotranspiration is dependent
its tolerance to autumn frost and promotes sprouting and
on water demand, applied water, irrigation method used,
¯owering the following spring (Valenzuela 1988). Water
canopy cover, and water management.
consumption is related to water demand and canopy area
(Xiloyannis et al. 1990). This consumption is greatest in
December±February (southern hemisphere), a period
with high water demands in which the orchard has at-
Introduction
tained its maximum canopy area. In the previous months,
the e€ect of irrigation is not as important because water
Water-production functions are required for water
stored in soils with a high retention capacity is adequate
management and the design of irrigation methods in or-
and orchards have a partial canopy cover with low eva-
chards. The level of water applied has a number of e€ects
potranspiration. However, it should be noted that the ®rst
on the design of irrigation systems such as furrow length,
irrigation period has a signi®cant e€ect on yield and fo-
maximum discharge, time of irrigation cuto€, pump
liage development, given that it a€ects photosynthesis
capacity, pipe diameters, and number of emitters in
(Fereres and Goldhamer 1990).
pressurized systems. Water management variables such
Average daily water evapotranspiration in kiwi during
as irrigation frequency, time of irrigation, and water al-
the period of maximum water demand was determined to
location are important in the design of irrigation systems.
be 80 m3/ha per day in the central zone (Valenzuela 1988)
Water-production relations in kiwi (Actinidia deli-
and 103 m3/ha per day in the northern zone of Chile
ciosa), as well as their use in the design of irrigation
(Miranda and Gurovich 1988). Judd et al. (1986) deter-
systems, have not been extensively studied. Proper
mined a consumption of 62 m3/ha per day for full cover
management and design of irrigation systems in kiwi
adult orchards in New Zealand.
production will provide high yields of high quality fruits,
The high water consumption in kiwi orchards is due
having a considerable e€ect on the orchard's pro®t-
to their large leaf-surface area (Kulczewski 1988), low
ability. The purpose of this study was to determine
stomata control (Beutel 1985; Judd et al. 1986), and the
water-production functions in kiwi in order to provide
fact that the transpiration process continues during the
information for water management and the design of
night, reaching values of approximately 25% of the total
irrigation systems.
daily consumption (Blanchet 1988).
Orchards with high water requirements and an inef-
E.A. Holzapfel (&) á R. Merino á M.A. MarinÄo á R. Matta
Department of Irrigation and Drainage,
®cient root absorption system need careful manage-
University of ConcepcioÂn, Casilla 537, ChillaÂn, Chile ment (Holzapfel and Jara 1990). A root system grows in
e-mail: eholzapf@udec.cl the presence of adequate water and oxygen content
74
in the soil (Valenzuela and Godoy 1990). A water de®cit
in the upper zone of the root system limits its normal
growth and restricts its volume of extraction (Blanchet
1988). Valenzuela (1988) pointed out that an excess of
water in the root zone quickly provokes physiological
disorders such as restricted growth, wilting and chlorosis
of leaves. Kiwi roots do not grow in soils with excessive
water content, which restricts the root's absorption area.
Kiwi has a small soil water absorption range (Vale-
nzuela 1988). Xiloyannis et al. (1990) recommended
maintaining a level of soil water content not less than 50%
of the total soil water retention while Ferreyra et al. (1988)
considered a value of not less than 20% to be appropriate.
Miranda and Gurovich (1988) determined that it is pos-
sible to use up to 75% of the available soil water content
without deleterious e€ects on fruit production and plant
development. Beutel (1985) and Kulczewski (1988) noted
that kiwi requires a high frequency of irrigation due to its
low stomata regulation, so that a high soil water content is
required to maintain an adequate plant water status.
Water requirements in kiwi are a€ected by climate
and soil characteristics as well as by the morphology and
physiology of the plant. The development of kiwifruit is
sensitive to water stress (Judd et al. 1989). The irrigation
method and the amount of water applied have a marked
e€ect on the production and quality of the fruit (Ho-
lzapfel et al. 1985).
Materials and methods
This study was conducted between 1990 and 1993 at ColõÂ n, CuricoÂ,
Chile, located at 35.02°S, 71.25°W. Average climatic conditions in
the area during October±March included a pan evaporation of
950 mm, relative humidity of 60%, and an average maximum daily
temperature of 28 °C. The average annual precipitation is 520 mm
distributed from June to August.
The study consisted of 3-year-old vine kiwi trees (cv. Hayward),
planted on a grid of 4 m ´ 4 m, with 11% male trees (cvs. Tomuri
and Matua).
The soil is a sandy clay loam with an alluvial substratum. The soil
physical characteristics are shown in Table 1. The ®rst year of the
study (1990±1991) was considered to be a period of adjustment, since
in the previous years the kiwi trees had been irrigated by a furrow
method; thus data from this period were excluded from the analysis.
Two irrigation methods were used along with four levels of
water application, giving a total of eight treatments. The four levels
of water application were set as a percentage of pan evaporation;
with values of 40, 60, 100, and 120% for the periods 1991±1992 and
1992±1993, delivered through a variety of emitters per tree (2, 3, 5,
and 6 drippers and 1, 2, 3, and 4 microjet) approximately 40 cm
apart. Daily drip irrigation and microjet irrigation with a frequency
of two irrigations per week were used to analyze management e€ects
on yield. Each irrigation method covered a row of 32 trees, of which
Table 1 Soil physical characteristics
Depth Field Wilting Bulk Texture
(cm) capacity point density
(%) (%) (g/cm3)
0±30 28.1 11.10 1.55 Sandy clay loam
30±60 27.1 16.09 1.52 Sandy clay
60±90 23.0 17.08 1.56 Sandy loam
four trees per treatment (16 trees) were monitored to determine soil
water content, and all were monitored for fruit production.
A completely randomized block design was used with four
water treatments and four replicates for each irrigation method.
Data collected were analyzed using the ANOVA procedure
and averages were compared using Tukey's multiple range test
(P P 0.05).
Soil water content was determined daily for 2 weeks in each
month and once a week during the other 2 weeks. The measure-
ments were taken at 15 and 45 cm depth using a neutron probe
with three access tubes per plant placed at 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 m from
the tree trunk in the row in each treatment. Evapotranspiration was
determined using the water balance equation:
PE ˆ P ‡ I ‡ h ÿ D …1†
in which PE is the plant evapotranspiration (m3), P is precipitation
(m3), I is the applied water per tree (m3), h is variation of soil water
content in the pro®le (m3), and D is the volume of deep percolation
(m3). Precipitation and deep percolation were ignored since they were
not signi®cant during the irrigation season in each period analyzed.
The evapotranspiration relation was determined as a ratio be-
tween actual evapotranspiration and pan evaporation. Temperature
and relative humidity were measured with a hygrothermograph,
while evaporation was measured daily with a class A evaporation
pan placed on bare soil. Table 2 shows the monthly pan evaporation
for the 1991±1992 and 1992±1993 seasons. Fruit yield was deter-
mined for individual trees.
Results and discussion
Applied water
The amount of water required by trees depends on at-
mospheric demand, having a direct relationship with
pan evaporation (Doorenbos and Pruitt 1977; Holzapfel
et al. 1995). Table 3 shows the seasonal water applied
for each treatment and irrigation method. Generally, the
accumulated volume of applied water in each treatment
di€ered throughout the season, showing a maximum
variation in months with high demands.
In general, the soil water content showed a direct
relationship with the level of applied water (Figs. 1, 2).
The water treatments showed a tendency to decrease
the soil water content between November and January
and to increase it from February until the end of the
irrigation period, displaying the most marked e€ects
with low and medium levels of water application. This
could indicate that evaporative demand exceeded the
water applied during the ®rst months of the irrigation
season (November±January), particularly during the
®rst year (Fig. 1). The treatment with the least amount
of applied water produced the most restrictive condi-
tions for the trees. The soil water content showed a
Table 2 Monthly pan evaporation
Month Period 1991±1992 Period 1992±1993
(mm/month) (mm/month)
November 165.9 150.6
December 167.9 222.1
January 219.3 241.4
February 194.3 193.4
March 93.5 139.8
 75

Fig. 1 Soil water content for

di€erent levels of water applied
under drip and microjet irriga-
tion during the 1991±1992
season: a soil depth 0±30 cm;
b soil depth 30±60 cm;
low, medium,
high, extra high

continuous decrease throughout the season as cor- Evapotranspiration relations

roborated by the smallest amount of soil water con-
tent (Figs. 1, 2). High and extra-high treatments
showed a small reduction in soil water content, with-
out reaching a threshold level that could a€ect plant
processes.
The relation between reference evapotranspiration and
crop evapotranspiration is described as a crop coecient
and is associated with foliage area (Blanchet 1988; Mi-
randa and Gurovich 1988; Valenzuela 1988), taking on
76

Fig. 2 Soil water content for

di€erent levels of water applied
under drip and microjet
irrigation during the 1992±1993
season: a soil depth 0±30 cm;
b soil depth 30±60 cm;
low, medium,
high, extra high

characteristic values for each species. However, it has
been established that tree evapotranspiration also de-
pends on water management practices and soil moisture
content (Fereres 1990; Fereres and Goldhamer 1990).
Thus, the crop coecient is a function of the crop itself,
water management practices, and the irrigation method
used.
As crop coecients are normally developed for non-
limiting water conditions, the ratio between actual
evapotranspiration and pan evaporation (ET/Ep) was
 77

Table 3 Seasonal water applied

(m3/ha) in kiwi (cv. Hayward) Level of water Period
under drip and microjet irriga- application
tion Drip Microjet
1990±1991 1991±1992 1992±1993 1990±1991 1991±1992 1992±1993

Low 1845 3330 4347 1976 3300 4364

Medium 3691 5630 6355 3952 5600 6382
High 5536 8350 10218 5928 8300 10260
Extra high 7381 10295 12150 7904 10300 12200

calculated to determine water requirements under wetting of a larger soil volume in microjet irrigation,
di€erent conditions of water availability. producing better aeration in the root zone and a larger
Table 4 shows the monthly ratio between actual volume of soil explored by active roots.
evapotranspiration and pan evaporation for 4- and 5- In low-frequency water application, as in microjet
year-old kiwi orchards under di€erent levels of water irrigation, one can observe a greater production per unit
application using drip and microjet irrigation methods. of water applied in the range from 6000 to 10 000 m3/ha
It can be seen that the ET/Ep ratio increased until per season, indicating a larger value of the yield reduc-
January and then gradually decreased until the end of tion ratio (yield per unit of water applied). The yield
the irrigation season. The lower ET/Ep values at the reduction ratio decreases for values >10 000 m3/ha per
beginning of the irrigation season were due to a small season, indicating that the e€ect of additional water is of
percentage of canopy cover and those at the end of the minor importance in fruit production.
season were due to leaf senescence. On the basis of this analysis, it can be concluded that
The level of water applied had a marked e€ect on the optimum level of water application should be in a
tree evapotranspiration, increasing it as the volume of range equivalent to 80±100% of pan evaporation. Ob-
applied water increased. This is due to greater water viously, the optimum amount of water applied should
availability for transpiration and to an increase in soil take into account other factors such as water cost, ir-
evaporation, as reported by Fereres (1990). In general, rigation method, price of product, and water availabil-
drip irrigation yielded larger values of evapotranspi- ity, through the use of optimization models (Holzapfel
ration than microjet irrigation. This can be attributed et al. 1990).
to the daily drip irrigation maintaining greater soil
water content at the surface and inducing higher Table 4 Evapotranspiration ratio (ET/Ep) for 4- and 5-year-old
evaporation. In contrast, twice weekly microjet irriga- kiwi plants under drip and microjet irrigation for di€erent levels of
tion resulted in less evaporation even when the wetted water application
area was larger than with drip irrigation, con®rming Month Drip Microjet
the results obtained by Pruitt et al. (1984) in tomatoes
irrigated by a drip and furrow method. These results (1991±1992) (1992±1993) (1991±1992) (1992±1993)
indicate that the crop factor used to determine water
Low application
requirements should consider the following variables: November 0.31 0.40 0.26 0.41
irrigation method, atmospheric demand, type of or- December 0.17 0.59 0.15 0.50
chard, tree development (percentage of canopy cover), January 0.37 0.59 0.32 0.56
seasonal plant characteristics, and water management. February 0.33 0.49 0.23 0.49
March 0.32 0.50 0.22 0.50
The latter is also a function of the type of soil and
plant species. Thus, it can be inferred that the evapo- Medium application
November 0.55 0.71 0.43 0.68
transpiration relations in Table 4 hold true for similar December 0.35 0.81 0.50 0.75
water management conditions and irrigation methods. January 0.75 0.89 0.48 0.79
For other conditions, the crop factor needs to be February 0.84 0.81 0.51 0.72
considered, taking into account the aforementioned March 0.42 0.67 0.36 0.68
factors. High application
November 0.83 1.00 0.75 1.00
December 0.60 1.20 0.80 1.06
January 0.94 1.24 0.81 1.13
Water-production function February 0.94 1.05 0.81 1.00
March 0.53 1.09 0.58 1.00
Water-production function under drip and microjet ir- Extra high application
rigation for 4- and 5-year-old kiwis is shown in Figs. 3 November 1.14 1.10 0.89 1.15
and 4, respectively. The same level of water applied December 0.90 1.23 1.04 1.21
under a low-frequency microjet irrigation produced a January 1.19 1.32 0.98 1.31
greater yield than daily drip irrigation. This could be February 1.02 1.21 0.97 1.25
March 0.26 1.14 0.72 1.05
attributable to water management practices and the
78

Fig. 3 Water-productin in a
4-year old kiwi orchard under
drip and microjet irrigation
(season 1991±1992)

Fig. 4 Water-productin in a
5-year old kiwi orchard under
drip and microjet irrigation
(season 1992±1993)

is necessary to consider these variables in establishing

Conclusions
The results of this study indicate that evapotranspiration
in kiwi plants depends on factors such as atmospheric
water demand, amounts of water applied, irrigation
method, canopy cover, and water management. Thus, it
crop factors and plant water requirements.
Fruit production increases with an increase in
the volume of water applied, up to a value equivalent to
100% of pan evaporation, showing the large e€ect of
water on fruit yield in the range 6000±10 000 m3/ha per
season.

Irrigation frequency and the amount of water applied
had a signi®cant e€ect on the yield of kiwi in sandy clay
loam soils.
Acknowledgements The research leading to this report was sup-
ported by the ComisioÂn Nacional de InvestigacioÂn y TecnologõÂ a
(CONICYT) under project Fondecyt 0172/90. The authors
would like to thank Solfrut S.A. Company for providing its farm
for the study and to Ing. Oscar Mozo for his technical assis-
tance.
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